SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 2004--The MusiCares(R) Foundation, which provides a broad range of critical assistance services to the music community, announced that it has acquired the internationally recognized Musicians' Assistance Program (MAP). The complementary organizations will join forces under the MusiCares name, and a vital fund will be maintained bearing the MAP name and supporting its long-standing mission.

"The Academy has admired the work MAP has accomplished for many years and, through our MusiCares Foundation, we have collaborated in service to thousands of music people in need," said Neil Portnow, President of the Recording Academy(R) and MusiCares. "Now fulfilling the dreams of both organizations, we are ready and eager to join forces to maximize and focus our resources to help the greater music community and to become the charity for our industry."

"The late Buddy Arnold and his wife Carole Fields Arnold made MAP a remarkable and unique resource for the music community to get help," stated John Branca, MAP Board Member and partner at Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie, Stiffelman & Cook LLP. "Buddy and Carole's vision and mission will continue to live through this partnership."

"In the five years I've been with MusiCares, Buddy Arnold and I spoke numerous times about how we could accomplish our shared goals more effectively if MAP and MusiCares merged," said Harold Owens, MusiCares Director of Addiction Recovery Services. "Our organizations have worked in partnership behind the scenes for many years and going forward we are publicly united for the good of music people struggling with addiction."

MusiCares and MAP are the two largest musician assistance programs in the music industry and have helped countless music makers in a wide variety of causes. MAP has helped hundreds of members of the music industry receive treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, regardless of their financial condition. MusiCares historically has assisted members of the recording community in overcoming addiction as well as provided assistance to address other financial, medical and personal crises. MusiCares, with these newly combined resources, will continue the practice of treating each client's need with the utmost integrity and confidentiality.

The merger of the entities will become official over the next several weeks and the transition is expected to be completed over the fall. For more information on MusiCares, please visit: www.grammy.com/musicares. For more information on MAP, please visit: www.map2000.org.

Established in 1989 by the Recording Academy, MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares' services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly impact the health and welfare of the music community.

Founded in 1992, MAP's mission is to provide treatment for music industry professionals suffering from drug or alcohol dependency. All efforts of the Musicians' Assistance Program (MAP) are motivated by the desire to assist the music industry in providing solutions to drug and alcohol addiction within its community, and to impart a message of prevention to the musicians of tomorrow.